Bernard John GEHRMANN, Congress, WI (1880-1958)
GEHRMANN, Bernard John, a Representative from Wisconsin; born in Gnesen, near Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Germany February 13, 1880; attended the common schools in Germany; in 1893 immigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled in Chicago, Ill.; employed in a packing plant in Chicago and later learned the printing trade on a German-language daily newspaper; attended night school; moved to Wisconsin and settled on a farm near Neillsville, Clark County, in 1896 and engaged in agricultural pursuits; moved to a farm near Mellen, Ashland County, in 1915; clerk of the school board 1916-1934, town assessor 1916-1921, and chairman of the town board 1921-1932; conducted farmersâ institutes throughout the State for the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture 1920-1933; served in the State assembly 1927-1933; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1932; member of the State senate in 1933 and 1934; elected as a Progressive to the Seventy-fourth and to the three succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1935-January 3, 1943); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1942 to the Seventy-eighth Congress; engaged in work for the United States Department of Agriculture from January 1943 until April 1945; elected to the Wisconsin assembly in 1946, 1948, 1950, and 1952; elected to the State senate in 1954 for the term ending in January 1957; died in Mellen, Wis., July 12, 1958; interment in Mellen Union Cemetery.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
